Assistant/Associate Professor, Story & Vision

ASSISTANT/ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, STORY & VISION

All applications must be submitted through UNCSA’s website. Please apply through the job posting at the link provided:

https://employment.uncsa.edu/postings/7750

School / Department Information
Established in 1993, the School of Filmmaking combines rigorous professional training with unparalleled facilities, equipment, and resources. The Hollywood Reporter listed UNCSA as the #9 film program in the United States in its 2023 rankings. UNCSA is the highest ranked public university, and its tuition is the most affordable of the top-ranked schools by a wide margin. The program’s mission is to train talented students for professional careers in the film, television, and emerging entertainment industries; it stresses the collaborative nature of creative filmmaking in a modern and rigorous conservatory atmosphere. The School of Filmmaking’s goal is to produce storytellers of unique vision who value and know how to use the components of the motion picture arts in all of its current and evolving forms. The school offers a BFA in Filmmaking with disciplines in Animation, Cinematography, Directing, Picture Editing & Sound Design, Producing, Production Design & Visual Effects, and Screenwriting. In addition, an MFA is offered in Creative Producing and Screenwriting.

Position Summary
UNCSA is seeking TWO imaginative and innovative Story & Vision educators who are active in their careers and are interested in joining our full-time faculty in the School of Filmmaking. These innovative, versatile educators are interested in teaching students immersed in an interactive process in which they use state of the art facilities and equipment. Professional experience will inform their instruction and enable instructors to create content from their first year forward.

Description of Responsibilities and Duties
The School of Filmmaking promotes a broad knowledge of the arts and cinematic disciplines in both faculty and students. The Assistant/Associate Professor of Story & Vision’s primary responsibility will be to teach multiple introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses at the undergraduate level – most likely within Directing, Producing, and Screenwriting. Faculty at UNCSA actively advise first and second year students as these young artists begin to explore the various disciplines offered in film. After two years of required classes spanning all filmmaking concentrations, students select their preferred concentration for deeper study for their final two years. Story & Vision faculty mentor students in their third and fourth years who focus their studies on the storytelling aspects of Directing, Producing, and Screenwriting.

Faculty at UNCSA are expected to engage in activities that are typical in an academic setting: advising and supervising students outside of the classroom, attending faculty and production meetings, participating in service activities such as faculty governance, serving on various committees, reviewing applications and making recommendations for incoming admissions, inviting guest artists to campus for workshops and presentations, visiting student film sets, and helping to develop new courses, programs, and methods of instruction. The candidate will be expected to teach and hold office hours on campus during the school year.

Faculty at UNCSA are expected to continue professional activity in order to remain at the forefront of technologies and practices.

Required Qualifications
1. An earned terminal degree in the teaching discipline, generally the MFA or a Master’s degree with a minimum of 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline. Equivalent professional experience OR an equivalent combination of education and professional experience may be accepted in lieu of the academic degree.

2. Substantial professional experience as a screenwriter, director, producer, or creative executive in feature films and/or television and/or emerging storytelling mediums — i.e., web series, video games/interactive media, and other short form content.

3. Current and continued engagement in their practice.

Preferred Qualifications
The ideal candidate will have had significant experience in one or more of the following:

1. demonstrated teaching/lecturing experience at the college level;

2. writing and/or producing and/or directing in one of more of the following:
a) feature films that have received distribution and/or significant film festival exposure;
b) episodic half-hour or one-hour television or modern streaming equivalent;
c) short films that have received significant exposure at film festivals;
d) web series and/or other episodic short form content;
e) video games or other interactive media;
f) sketch comedy and/or other emerging media, or

3. professional story development experience.

Candidates must be able to reflect on the craft of storytelling from diverse perspectives. The successful candidate will contribute to the students’ overall education in filmmaking to encourage collaboration, develop communication skills, instill critical thinking, and inspire creativity.

The ideal candidate will also have outstanding leadership skills. They will elevate the profile of the School of Filmmaking within the UNC System and in the industry at large as well as promote the preeminence of UNCSA as a leading film school. Faculty will also build professional partnerships within the industry, with festivals, and with independent production companies, and they will promote opportunities for students to showcase their talents and advance their careers.

Preferred candidates should have experience in the following: designing courses that engender intellectual growth, developing socially engaged individuals with original viewpoints, prioritizing students’ well being and artistic experience (both while at the institution and as they begin to matriculate into a post-residency practice), and providing guidance to students how they can best express and sustain themselves as artistic professionals within their chosen field. Preferred candidates should possess a clear understanding that the safety of people (peers, colleagues, and the community at large) take precedence over the expectation, demands, and goals of generating exceptional content, while still encouraging students’ passion to create and pursue the highest level of their creativity and collaboration. Faculty should demonstrate a commitment to excellence and implementing pedagogically sound practices both inside and outside the classroom as well as an interest in shaping the educational experience for emerging arts in a 21st century perspective.

Tenure Information
UNCSA utilizes a multi-year contract system in lieu of tenure.

Instructions to Candidates
To be assured of full consideration, all application materials should be received by November 17, 2023.

An EHRA application is required in order to be considered for a faculty position. Please note, EHRA applications do not have an employment entry section. Instead, a resume/CV will be required to be uploaded by the applicant, along with any other documents the Department or assigned Search Committee deem relevant for the review process. Applications will be treated confidentially until the final stages of the search process.

Salary will be commensurate with experience.

UNCSA follows the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) guidelines for faculty credentialing. The successful candidate will be required to submit a curriculum vitae, official transcripts of earned degrees, and/or substantiating documentation of experiential qualifications as a condition of employment.

Pursuant to UNCSA policy, as a condition of employment, the University must obtain a criminal background report and determine that the nature and seriousness of any criminal offenses do not render employment with the University inappropriate.

DOCUMENTS NEEDED TO APPLY
Required Documents:
1. Cover Letter
2. Curriculum Vitae
3. List of 3 Professional References